THE son of murdered Tyneside hardman Viv Graham has hit out at the "gutless" thugs who left him with a fractured skull.

Speaking for the first time, Viv Graham junior, of High Spen, Gateshead, has revealed how he was attacked by a gang who had been terrorising his family for months.

The 22-year-old was left badly beaten and with a fractured skull after being set upon near to his grandparents’ house in Rowlands Gill last November.

Now, the dad-of-one says he believes he has been targeted because of his name, which has become notorious throughout the North East after the still unsolved slaying of his dad 19 years ago.

He said: “The people that killed my dad wanted rid of the biggest person in Newcastle for whatever reason – I don’t know what my dad did wrong.

“They were just gutless like these people who did this to me. They wanted rid of us because of our family.”

Viv jnr, who has a five-year-old son Shay Hebron, said he was forced to arm himself with a knuckle duster after being beaten up on a number of occasions late last year.

He had been left in such a state after being targeted twice by the gang that he feared for his own safety and carried the weapon for protection.

But after the second incident on November 9, Viv was so badly assaulted he had to be rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead where medical staff discovered the knuckle duster in his clothes and notified police.

He was arrested when he left the hospital and charged for possession of an offensive weapon.

He said: “All I did was try and stick up for myself. It was the first time I have ever had to carry something in my pocket.

“I used to box and I have always been quite good with my hands, but this time it was a big group of them and I couldn’t take them all on by myself.

“I ended up going to hospital with a fractured skull.”

Trouble had also plagued his brother Dean, who died in 2010, he added. “It was my brother’s trouble and that was brought down from my dad,” he said. “All I was trying to do was look after myself.

“I’m just trying to get out of that life where my brother and dad were.”

Viv Jnr appeared before magistrates in Gateshead, who heard how he armed himself with the knuckle duster in an attempt to ward off his attackers.

His solicitor, Tom Iceton, said the weapon, which was given to him as a gift from a friend who bought it in Turkey, had not been used or even seen by the public, and the offence was in the lowest end of the category.

Mr Iceton, defending, said: “I think the police had to think long and hard whether to prosecute this offence or not. He has had problems and the two days before this offence he had received a severe beating by several people and left with injuries because of that. Nobody was aware there was a knuckle duster there. It wasn’t produced in public.”

Andrew Waters, prosecuting, said: “He accepted the only purpose for a knuckle duster was to cause injury.”

Viv pleaded guilty and was fined £115, with £15 victim surcharge and £50 costs. The knuckle duster will be destroyed.

He says his lesson has been learned and he just wants to try and get his life back on track after the incident.

“The people that did this to me are spineless, by getting a gang of people to do it,” said Viv, who is on job seekers’ allowance.

He added: “I took it worse than I thought I would and after I left the hospital I had to be rushed back in because I was hallucinating.

“But I’m just happy there was no permanent damage.”

Ian Cuthbert Henderson, of Rowlands Gill, and Michael Ian Henderson, of Winlaton, have been charged with wounding with intent and are due to appear at Newcastle Crown Court on February 13 in relation to the attack on Viv.

Devastated by two tragedies

THE family of Viv Graham has faced a life filled with loss and devastation following the dad-of- four’s murder.

The shooting of the 34-year-old, as he left a Wallsend pub on New Year’s Eve in 1993, sent shock waves through Tyneside and led to a huge police operation to track down his killers.

He was shot three times with a Magnum handgun in the legs and chest before his killers escaped in a car that was later found burnt-out in Heaton, Newcastle.

The much-loved family man, who ran a security empire looking after pubs in Wallsend and Newcastle, was left bleeding in the street as he dragged himself 30 yards to try to get help before collapsing.

He died at North Tyneside General Hospital four hours later surrounded by his close family.

Despite more than 1,000 people being quizzed, 500 homes visited and hundreds of statements taken in connection with the murder, his killers are still at large. Even an apparent confession from killer and supergrass Lee Shaun Watson during a separate court case came to nothing.

The family have been unable to lay the ordeal to rest as the years continue to pass without anyone being brought to justice for his murder.

And they faced fresh tragedy two years ago when Viv’s son Dean was found dead at the wheel of his car.

It was on March 25, 2010, when Dean was discovered at the Whinfield Industrial Estate, not far from his home in Highfield, near Rowlands Gill, Gateshead.

It is believed the 24-year-old drove his black Peugeot car to wasteland on the estate, stopping near the Thomas Armstrong concrete block works.

An employee saw the car and found Dean’s body when he went to investigate.

Police and paramedics were called, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

His family had to walk the same path of grief as they did when his dad was buried in March 1994.

A copycat funeral took place as the devastated family revisited the same church and graveyard as they did for Viv.

Just like his father before him, he was remembered at a service at St Patrick’s Church, in High Spen near Gateshead, before being laid to rest at Hookergate Cemetery.